


Circling Around Again

by Goldom



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, First Date, Fluff, POV Second Person, Rare Pairings, Silly multi-live names made in-world
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 05:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17400722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldom/pseuds/Goldom
Summary: Marina is a good girl.





	Circling Around Again

**Author's Note:**

> After the CiRCLING event, I think Marina needs some love too. But there's no one in the cast her own age … except (potentially) the player character. So here we are. (I swear I don't have a crush on Marina. At least not yet lol.)

As the door swings shut after the first clients of the day, the lobby of CiRCLE returns to a peaceful quiet. Muffled chatter and laughter filters through the windows from the retreating girls outside. You head for the vacated studio room and begin cleaning the practice area. Checking the equipment and returning the rental instruments to storage always gives you a bittersweet feeling. This room, just moments ago filled with the pride and struggle and joy of a young up-and-coming band, is reset back to lifeless uniformity.

Finished, you head back to the lobby. Your coworker, the always kind and caring Marina, is tidying the front counter, and looks up as you enter. “All done?” You nod and head over to see if she needs help. “We don’t have anyone else scheduled for an hour, so you can go on break if you want …” she looks down to your nametag.

By unspoken agreement, Marina always plays along with your running joke of wearing a new disposable nametag every day. No matter how silly or ridiculous the name you come up with, she uses it without comment, and you love the way the best ones bring a stifled smile to her face. Then you remember what you wrote on the tag last night (maybe just a little drunk) and feel yourself blush. _God, I’ve been hanging around those kids too much. Pull yourself together!_

A pause. Then Marina finishes, “… Marina = good girl…-san.” She gives a small laugh. “What’s that for?”

“Ah …” You glance to see how she’s reacting. She looks confused. _But maybe happy?_ “… I just wanted you to know we all appreciate everything you do.” You look down and take a breath. “I think it’s really sweet how you take care of all the girls that come in here. Even going out of your way to put together little present boxes for them after shows? That’s …” you trail off.

Now Marina looks like the embarrassed one. “I just want everything to work out for them. I can’t do very much, but at least I want them to know they have someone supporting them.”

“They do,” you say, “and I think they support you too. We all do.”

She laughs. “I’m not the important one here.”

“That’s not true! You keep this place together … literally … none of us could be here without you. You’re really important to … me …” you finish hesitantly. Neither of you speak for a few seconds, and your heartrate soars as you realize what you just said. To cover it up, you blurt out, “Oh! If we have some free time, um, Kasumi-chan mentioned that you play the guitar too … I’d love to hear you play.” _That didn’t cover up anything!_ you think, trying to stop feeling like the lovestruck teenagers who make up your entire clientele.

“I’m not that good. I haven’t practiced seriously in years.” She looks away and kneads at her arm with the opposite hand.

You try to put on a calming smile. “I can’t play anything; it all looks impressive to me.”

Marina looks back at you and seems to see you in a new light. You can’t tell what she’s thinking, but that look sends your mind racing. “Okay. Just a little.”

In the studio, you sit across from Marina in a folding chair and listen as she begins a slow piece on her guitar. It’s old, beat up and covered in faded stickers that tell of a forgotten childhood dream – a far cry from the pristine, high-end instruments the house owns. Marina looks down as she plays, carefully watching her fingers as she places them deliberately. Though she lacks the fire of the younger musicians that come in, she has a relaxed comfort with the instrument, like an old married couple.

You clap as she finishes. “That was really nice.”

She looks up and waves a hand back and forth. “No, no, we hear way better than that every day.”

“So?” You give a one-shouldered shrug. “You don’t need to be the best player if you can make someone feel something.”

 “What’d you feel?”

_Walked into that one._ “It was warm, like tea in winter. It was very you.”

With barely a movement, Marina somehow looks as happy as you’ve ever seen her. “Thank you,” she says simply, and then you both jolt as you hear the front door open. As you head out of the studio to greet the unexpected guest, Marina says from behind your back. “Hey, would you like to come to dinner with me after work tonight?”

_Dinner?! Is she asking me out? No, no no, I’m sure—_ you interrupt your runaway thoughts in order to answer before you reach the counter. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

* * *

As the sun sets, you follow Marina to a nearby family restaurant. “It’s funny,” she says as you reach the door, “we’ve never hung out outside work before.” You enter and sit down at a booth across from each other.

“Well … I don’t socialize very easily with people I’m not already close to.”

“So you feel close to me?” She gives a reassuring smile before you can react. “I’m glad. It’s been nice having you here too. Before you joined, I could go days without seeing anyone my own age.” She pauses as a waiter approaches to take your orders. “I suppose Kasumi-chan also told you I used to be in a band too?” You nod. “Sometimes I wonder if I really grew up at all, or if I’m still just pining over the past with this job.”

You shake your head. “The girls are lucky to have you as a mentor, even if it’s behind the scenes.” You sigh. “I can’t help but be jealous of them sometimes too.”

“You have history in music too?” Marina asks.

“No, I mean … that they’re all figuring themselves out at such a young age.” She looks as you, curious. “I mean how open they are about being …” you cut off as your dinner approaches. When you look back from thanking the waiter, Marina is watching you intently.

“You mean how so many of them are out?” she finishes for you.

“Yeah.” You slump, sighing again. “I can’t help but feel I missed out on so many years. It’s really nice to see how happy they are, but still …”

Marina reaches over and steals a french fry from your plate. “We didn’t have the world they do. No social media, no Wikipedia. It’s only natural it took our generation longer.” She eats the fry, and you begin to eat as well, unsure how to reply, but then she continues. “And it’s not like you’re that old! We still have plenty of time to grow up in our own way.”

_We?_ you wonder. “Tsukishima-san, is this …”

She cuts you off. “Please, Marina is fine.”

“Marina …-san.” She smiles gently. “Is this a date?” you ask, feeling incredibly childish and useless.

Marina reaches an arm across the table, palm up, then nods her head toward it when you don’t respond right away. Nervous, you take her hand in your own. “Would you like it to be?”

You’re not really sure what you feel, what to do with it or where you’re going. But for now, “Yeah,” you say, “I would.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in part when [this happened](http://goldom.tumblr.com/post/181938597674/using-fun-names-for-multi-then-suddenly-story-is).


End file.
